Move to Outlaw Fake Mezzuzas

A ministerial committee was appointed yesterday to work out enforceable legislation that would outlaw the sale of fake mezzuzas and other religious paraphernalia. The committee was assigned the task after Religious Affairs Minister Zerach Warhaftig complained at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that unwary tourists were being sold mezzuzas and phylacteries that did not conform to religious laws.

Dr. Warhaftig explained that the portions from the scriptures contained in the religious objects must be written by hand on prescribed material. He said that some purchasers opened their mezzuzas to find that the scriptural portions were reproduced by photo offset. Justice Minister Yaacov Shimshon Shapiro told the Cabinet that it was difficult to prosecute offenders under existing laws.